{"product_id":"9781429969178","title":"River of Smoke: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eA \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e Notable Fiction Book for 2011\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe \u003ci\u003eIbis\u003c\/i\u003e, loaded to its gunwales with a cargo of indentured servants, is in the grip of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal; among the dozens flailing for survival are Neel, the pampered raja who has been convicted of embezzlement; Paulette, the French orphan masquerading as a deck-hand; and Deeti, the widowed poppy grower fleeing her homeland with her lover, Kalua.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe storm also threatens the clipper ship \u003ci\u003eAnahita\u003c\/i\u003e, groaning with the largest consignment of opium ever to leave India for Canton. And the \u003ci\u003eRedruth\u003c\/i\u003e, a nursery ship, carries Frederick \"Fitcher\" Penrose, a horticulturist determined to track down the priceless treasures of China that are hidden in plain sight: its plants that have the power to heal, or beautify, or intoxicate. All will converge in Canton's Fanqui-town, or Foreign Enclave: a tumultuous world unto itself where civilizations clash and sometimes fuse. It is a powder keg awaiting a spark to ignite the Opium Wars.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSpectacular coincidences, startling reversals of fortune, and tender love stories abound. But this is much more than an irresistible page-turner. The blind quest for money, the primacy of the drug trade, the concealment of base impulses behind the rhetoric of freedom: in \u003ci\u003eRiver of Smoke \u003c\/i\u003ethe nineteenth and twenty-first centuries converge, and the result is a consuming historical novel with powerful contemporary resonance. Critics praised \u003ci\u003eSea of Poppies \u003c\/i\u003efor its vibrant storytelling, antic humor, and rich narrative scope; now Amitav Ghosh continues the epic that has charmed and compelled readers all over the globe.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Farrar, Straus and Giroux","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47124633649392,"sku":"9781429969178","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781429969178_p0.jpg?v=1763783677","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781429969178","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}